Daily Archives: 6 September, 2010

But after watching those 50 All-time Greatest Twins come out on Saturday, I got so nostalgic that I really, really wanted to see that Legends game on Sunday. So many of those guys have such a tender place in my heart that seeing them all out on the field together just made me tear up. I put out a rhetorical plea to the baseball gods on twitter and my angel of mercy stepped up to say, “sure, let’s go to the game!” Kirsten and I had a blast at our very first baseball game together.

I also REALLY wanted to get one of those cool Fedoras they were handing out at the game but because I stayed at home late enough to get the lineups up in the gamechat, we just didn’t get to the park until after all the hats were gone. There were a LOT of people there VERY early so I was clearly not the only person who wanted to see that game (or get the hat). So, no Fedora for me. For the record – if you were there and got a hat and you aren’t so much a hat person? Consider sending it my way. I would wear that sucker a LOT! I’m just a hat person through and through. Let me know if you have an extra sitting around not being used.

OK, down to the REAL point of the day! Seeing all the Old Timers!! There were many unforgettable moments during the short period of time they were all out there. For the record, the Minnies beat the Pauls 5-1 but I couldn’t even tell you who was on which team! I was just enjoying all the interplay on the field and watching pitchers throw and batters hit and old guys try to catch! It was just soooooooo much fun. But, if you ask anyone who was there, there was one moment that really seemed to speak to the reality of all these guys doing this in a brand new park. Kent Hrbek isn’t quite the man he used to be – more specifically, he’s about TWICE the man he used to be. So when he dove to grab a foul off 1B and his full weight into the turf… well, the turf said, “ouch.”

Even funnier was the fact that he just sat there and stared at the hole in the ground for at least 5 minutes while they filled the divot back in and put the grass back. You couldn’t even tell where the hole was by the time they were done but even Hrbek couln’t believe how much dirt he had managed to displace. The fun wasn’t over yet either, he only finally got up when a couple buddies picked him up by each arm. I just about died laughing as he totally milked the whole situation. Of course, I can’t believe that more of these guys didn’t hurt themselves because you could tell they were having so much fun that they were pushing themselves to extraordinary limits.

Ron Washington (Rangers manager), actually put on a Twins uni, sat in the Twins dugout with all the guys as one of our 50 Greatest Twins. And he REALLY played too – to the point where he tweaked a hamstring and had to hobble off the field. We’ve certainly heard that a lot lately but you really don’t expect it from the opposing team’s manager. He got himself all ready for the game with his own boys after that but I couldn’t believe how much these guys of all ages really put themselves out there. Some of them really look like they could still play today – or like they just left. I just got super happy with the camera and took lots and lots of pics. I hope y’all really enjoy them! I would love to hear if you have a favorite!

So my plans changed and instead of watching the game from Huberts with Kristie over by Target Field, I’m home in bed wishing my head didn’t weigh 20 lbs. There is an Unplugged event at Huberts tonight after the game so our plan was to be sure we had good seats by getting there before all the people let out of the game. Oh well. Next time. And it’s starting to get a bit.. moist.. at the field today so let’s hope that the rain passes quickly.

News about our call-up situation continues to dribble out. Ben Revere is with the team now and seems practically speechless that it’s happened for him this year. Fox and Delaney have both been sent down so that we have room. I’m sure we’ll see more of them in coming years. Joe C. was kind enough to make sure that a question was answered that has hung in the back of my mind all year. No, Jacque Jones won’t be up with the team this year. Apparently, while they would really have loved to see him up here, there just wasn’t enough machinations they could make with the 40 man roster. Ok, but we needed Ben Revere? I like the kid but I don’t see it. But I know Jacque was glad just to be with a team playing ball this year – and have a big league chance – even if it was only the Rochester Red Wings.

As Slowey’s first start coming back from the DL, I’m glad to see more and more starter names coming back into the lineup. Yes, we still have Tolbert out there though. Valencia is being handled very carefully – to make sure that he doesn’t actually do serious damage by going back out too early. I’m fairly certain that Gardy doesn’t want to have another Punto situation. Btw, Punto is much better and eligible to come back but the team says it’ll probably be another week before he could go full out – they may do so sooner than that though if they need him for a pinch.

hmmm.. Nick Punto as a pinch hitter?? LOL Ok, so we know he’d be a defensive replacement. But let’s hope that the wins continue – our cushion with the White Sox isn’t nearly big enough. The offense just needs to keep up their thing – a very successfull thing as it turns out. The Twins have the highest team BA in the league. Who would ever have guessed.

Today’s game started out in a bit of a frustration for everyone. I know we all wanted to see more from Slowey, including Kevin himself, but as far as injury returns go, that was NOT a bad outting. He just didn’t have what he wanted with every pitch. He still was getting the job done for the most part though. I knew he wasn’t going to be able to go deep in the game but past the 4th would have been nice. But Jeff Manship came in and did a great job of holding down the fort for us. So it’s good to have that expanded bullpen right now.

The offense really did do its thing. We were all wishing it would have done just a little more because these 1 run games are always tense. But a win’s a win. Tense, easy, blow out, close… these wins are all necessary to keep on track since the White Sox don’t seem to be slowing down at this point of the season either. Gardy did verify that we’ll be adding Neshek and Perkins into the bullpen now too. But today, the offense story was .. HOMERUN!!! Delmon ALMOST got one, Kubel NAILED one and Thome… well, I’m not really sure there is a word for what Thome did. Field staff put out an estimate on the distance and then put out a REVISED distance – 480 feet. Wow. Of course, that’s an estimate of where it would have landed if the travel would have been unobstructed because he HIT THE AMERICAN FLAG POLE! Just a ridiculous mashing of taters there. For that, Jim Thome is today’s BOD.